Multiple-disk power transmission.



C, McLAREN. MULTIPLE DISK POWER TRANSMISSION. APPLICATION FILED JUNE is. 1914.

1,157,238. Patented 001. 19, 1915.

WITNESSES: INVENTQR crtnsrnn n nennn, or OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA- ZQ ellh ns i may, on ern:

Be t known, that 1., MLA nn,

a citizen o the Unitedfitat sr esiding at Oakland v the 1 county or Alam da, and

State of California, ha e inrentsrl new and useful. Impro eme ts n Multiple o e lfiIlSllliSSiQIl: 9 hich th tol w ns is a sp eifi e ien,

nvsnti nr letes tn pewer' tran mission apparatus I It isanebjss if present in ention to pr vide a t ensmissien apparatus whereby the loss of power by friction in the- -eppas atns ber tlneed tn sxniinimnm, a

ventien o proy de in the transmiss n i isn hettsw h and firnlrsenrled es thereby to increase the} transm tt n Fi i;-

clency of the sppn tllfi- 1 v -lt is is tenthsreset ;the Present 1,11

ally 'ali sd, dri inssn l C wh reby said sh 'ler ted. @Qnt'rQlling In -ans e th r nsmis:

si n wh re the transmission meehenism may be really controlled 1 The in ention sen istso'f the partslan the cons ructio and 'cl inbin tiori of: arts as hereinafter more f lly de cr bed, halv ngv r nceitoms a c nyingdrfn nss' n vi i I BignI 'l is a p an view of th tran mi's ,sion. is side element thereof part y b ok n ay an in s ction-l Y The in ention insllides a lriving 91" engine shaft 2 apprepristelya-jonrnalt l its at 3, Whi his' pro ided with a 'elutel menib ri, the-periphe al fac fof which isjolesigned. to be utilized by? "elit n With eppositely .dispesed parallel disks 5+ to trans it nea er o a driven shaf 7, B1 nerl up n and "slidable along the driven shaf 7 is a driven f iction head '5, engageable by he disks and provided with MULHPLE-pIsK Pownn TRANSMISSION.

Specification of'Letters Patent.

v Applieationfiled June 18, 19 1 4 Serial No. 845,824.

' Paten'tediOct. 1a, 1915.

9 .on one side for cooperation with the complementary clutch 4t of the engine shaft.

I The intermediatetransmission disks '5v6 are shown as parallel" and are forced from each other by means of expansion springs 10 surrounding stems 11 of the disks 56, the former of which is shown as slidably mounted in a journal 12 on a part 13 of the apparatus, while the stem 11 of the disk 6 slidably mounted in a bearing 12 on a beam or actuating member 14, which is slid-ably mounted upon parallel tension members 15, and the ends of which are provided with bosses having inclined-or cam surfaces '16 of a common'pitch-upon which react cams l7, complementary to their bosses 1,6. Therams 17 are turnableupon the rods. l d-and interconnectedby a link 18, one of the camel? having a lever or foot "ped lle whereby itfmay be rocked on its bearing rod 15, the rocking movement being treIiSi fitted through the connecting link 18 to the other cam 17.

When the lever or foot pedal 19 is pressed in the directionof the arrow a, the cams 17 act upo the bo ses l of e s iding b am 14: to force the latter laterally toward the alilled shafts 2-7; or draw the spaced mem bers 131& toward each other. Mounted upon each of the members l3-llv are anti- :Eriction rollers 20*which b ar agai s the surfaces of their respective adjacent translmis'sion disks-56, and as there are two of the bearing rollers '20 on each 7 member 13,' 14, and these being disposed on opposite sides 9f the disk stems 11 when the, sliding beam moves toward the axis of the shaft :7 the'bea i g' ol ers 20" ntheir respective supports l3 .14 act with equal pressure upon their respective disks 5+6 on opposite sides of their stems.

' The purpose of providing the bearing rollers 20 on the member's 13-4-14. is to-eli inate any tilting" act of t e disks 5 or 6; and thereby prevent their binding or clamping and obviate side thrust or pressure of their stems ll intheir respective bearings. The

roller bearings 20 when reacting upon the adjacent surfaces of their respective disks 5 6 press the latter laterally toward the driving headland the.driven head 8 and thereby-act upon these driving heads with equal press re from opp site sides, and thus eliminate sidethrnst. nd fri tion of th Shafts 2&7 in their respective bearings,

.7 quadrant 25, which is pivoted upon'the sup shiftable along For the purposefof varving'the speed er the driven shaft with relation to thespeed of the driving shaft, the driven head 8 is; the shaft "7 by means of af" link 21 connected to the hub of' the headVS i and to an operating lever 22, which is pivf ot ed upon a support. or shaft 23 suitably mounted uponthe fraine ofthe apparatus. Theloperatinglever'22 is provided with a latch or dog 24:, engageablewith a notched port 23 and has an extension or arm 261t 0 which is connected a spring 27, and to which isalso connected a-link attached to an arm 29 operative upon the shifting mechanism of J the pressure beam 1%, the spring 27 acting normally to draw the "engagement with the cam hubs l6 loflth'e pressure beam lt-so tliat when pressure s,

'appliedto thefoot pedal l9 torockthe cams 17, the force is opposed to' the tension .ofgthe shift the beam 14: inward,

springs 27. If, by means of the driving lever22 the driven head 8 be shifted intothe planeof the axis of the disks 5 .6, and-pressure I wereapplied to the foot pedal"'19 to the driven head seeing: in the neutral position "would remain wouldbe proportional to the distance of the head 8 from the axis of the disks 5j6 If r a 3'5 from the axis of'the' disks 5=6,.and pressure the driven head 8 b6 retracted rearw'ardly 7 applied "tothe disks, then'the direction of the rotation of the head 8 and shaft {would be reverse to thedir'ection'of the rotation of the driving head 4 r I It is one of the impor tantfeatures ofthe present invention that the driving head 8 into direct frictional clutch-' "in'g engagement with the driving clutch & without the interposition of intermediate thus avoiding the loss may be moved transmitting means,

. of power such as is incident to the use of any intermediate transmitting: means and also reducing the weight and cost of the transmission apparatus by their-omission.

The shifting of the pressure beam being' controlled'by the movementofthe cams 17:

p when, rocked to react upon the' cam hubs 16',

and since the cams 17- arenormally retract ed to relieve disk 6 from the pressure ofthe" roller bearings 20,.if whiletheclutch 9is' 7 shifted into direct driving engagement with the driving clutch 4,- it is desired to dis-i cbnnect the clutchmembers, this may be ac complished by a slight forward movement ofthe operating pedal 19 Which is connected. through the link '28 and the arm 26 to the] quadmmea Thus,'by slightl yirocking the foot pedal-19" thequadrant 25will be rocked,

and tlllS actioniwill serve through the 'meneeting link cams 17 from forcing- 1dle,but' as it is shiftedforward' toward the driving head 41, -and the'disks are shifted. into frictionalengagement with the driving 7 headsi and with the driven head 8, then the latter would be rotatedrat a speed which dilamesaatria;are

21 to retract the clutch member 9 to unclutchth'e parts withoutbringing the frictional",transmittingdisks 56 into fricticnal, engagement with the members 4- -8.

of the clutch memsengage same from operative corn. nect on with the clutch. member e is 'obvi ously butrvery 'slight,.and since the cam surfaces 16 and'17 mustbemovedto very" Th're uiredrno 61116 1113 ber 9 ;to di much greater extent Jtoeffect motement of V the parts 13 and '14; tojcausedisks 5'and 6 to 'operatively engage the clutch members &

and the peripher'al face 8 of'clutch'member it will therefore'be seenthat slight move, 7 ment of pedal 19' will no't he'suliicientito bring-'di'sks dand 6 int0 oper'ative'e'ngagee ment with clutch'parts 4' and- S' but' willj be "sufficient 'to: disengagei'the' olutcliparts, 4 i

Having thus I claim and ent is:

described my-inventiomiwhat desire'ito-"secure LettersPat- 1. The combination in a powertransmit- Y ting apparatusof al ined driving fand d'ri'ven shafts, a clutch member liked upoiithe' 'driving shaft, a clutch member Z splined "and slidable uponjthej driven shaft togand from" engag'ement Ewiththe Z cl'ut'ch" of the driving. shaft so thatsaid-shafts may befdirectlyicon was at uniform rotary movement, inctionaldisksdisposed -up'on opposite sides off saidfclutch members, each disk adaptable'to for controlling the pressure {01; saidfdisks upon opposite- "sides of the "clutch" members, and a connection between said'mechanism' and the clutch device whereby the shiftableclutch member may be disengaged from the driving clutch member. without bringing the "friction disks into driving" engagement with the clutch members 2. In apower transmitting apparatus; the

of the beams, tension membersengag'ed in i-thebossesithe bosses of one beani having "cam faces,1cams mounted on one of the ends of the tension members andeng ag ed with the, first 6am; faces,i.friction disks: yieldably supported by the beams and disposed pars allelz'withithealined'shafts andihaving their ute a e nga d ib i r l s. and mea s for rotating the second jc ms "wherebyithe rollers and "beams are moved toward each other, thereby holding the'frictio disks in engagement with the clutehmembersgj 3.11111 apowerj transmitting apparatus, the combinationjwith alined driving and'driven shaftsjof clutchmembersm'ounted on the re:

engage both of said members, a mechanism spective shafts, tension members disposed transversely thereof, beams slidable on the members, anti-friction rollers mounted on the beams, friction disks rotatably supported by the beams and having their outer surfaces engaged by-the rollers, one of said beams having cam faces on its ends, cams rotatably supported by one of the ends of the tension members and means for rotating the rotatable cams to control the pressure of the rollers on the disks and to hold the disks in frictional engagement with the clutch I members.

4. In combination with a driving and driven shaft. and "clutch members mounted respectively on said shafts, a beam arranged driven shaft and means to couple said shafts,

movable means to engage the coupling means, and unitary means to both actuate the coupling means and the movable means to cause the latter to be engaged with the coupling means.

6. In combination with a driving and driven shaft and means to couple said shafts, movable means to engage the coupling means, and means connected to the coupling means and to said movable means whereby upon slight movement thereof the coupling means will be disengaged Without moving the movable means into operative connection with the coupling means and upon continued movement will cause the movable means to operatively connect the coupling means. 7

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

CHESTER MoLAREN. WVitnesses:

JOHN H. HERRING, WV. W. HEALLY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. G. 

